I don't know whether I trust the credibility of the author (he goes out of his way to be inflammatory) or the accuser, but if true, then the course of actions chosen by the IOC is awful. The comments by the Palestinian sports guy make no sense. While a ceremony could be done in a divisive, racially charged way, his comment shows that he views anything, even a simple moment of silence as racist, and that's just wrong.

Predictably and unsurprisingly, Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestinian Football Federation, praised Rogge’s decision in a letter, writing “Sports is a bridge for love, connection and relaying peace between peoples. It should not be a factor for separation and spreading racism between peoples.”

I think Arabs, and Palestinians in particular, have to be the most cynical people on the planet. At the very least, this a$$hole could have kept his mouth shut, and treat it as a quiet victory. Instead, he's basically rubbing salt in the wounds victims' families by stating, quite explicitly, that remembering Olympic athletes who were tied up and executed for being Jewish promotes "separation and spreading racism." I consider this the equivalent of honoring that solider in Afghanistan who went on that murder spree. In fact, the Black September executioners that managed to get away were honored as heroes by the Arabs.

Edited by Daniel, 30 July 2012 - 07:09 PM.

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Glad it was kept out of the opening ceremony because there is no pleasing anyone in this particular debate.

It has nothing to do with "pleasing anyone" or bullsh!t moral equivalency that "they're just as bad as each other these days."

The Black September atrocity was the most ghoulish violation of what the Olympics are supposed to stand for.

If the IOC didn't want to upset the precious sensibilities of the Arabs, fine, whatever. And in a way, I can sympathize with the bind it's in, since the Arabs would basically demand that every single event be preceded with a moment of homage to the Palestinians. But if they don't have the balls to stand up to that sort of cynicism, at least try not to pretend that the Olympics is all about peace, love and brotherhood.

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I collect spores, molds and fungus.Hello fellow American. This you should vote me. I leave power. Good. Thank you, thank you. If you vote me, I'm hot. What? Taxes, they'll be lower... son. The Democratic vote is the right thing to do Philadelphia, so do.How do you spot risk? How do you avoid risk? And what makes it so risky?

I don't really believe the writer, they are entitled to their opinion and we will probably never know why but I highly doubt the entire Arab Olympic community would have boycotted over a moment of silence. Before the games opened they did have a moment of silence inside the Olympic village and I didn't see any protest. My guess? There's probably a whole generation of people who don't know about the massacre and they don't want to remind the world of how badly the fvcked up 40 years ago (or at least add to that kind of negative attention).

I don't really believe the writer, they are entitled to their opinion and we will probably never know why but I highly doubt the entire Arab Olympic community would have boycotted over a moment of silence. Before the games opened they did have a moment of silence inside the Olympic village and I didn't see any protest. My guess? There's probably a whole generation of people who don't know about the massacre and they don't want to remind the world of how badly the fvcked up 40 years ago (or at least add to that kind of negative attention).

If the entire Arab community goes apesh!t over a cartoon published on another continent, I can def see them boycotting the Olympics over the moment of silence.

The second article you posted just proves our point. If the IOC has no problem honoring every other trgedy that has occured and even outside the sphere of the Olympics, then why does it have an issue with honoring a tragedy that occured during and at an Olympics?

Basically the argument now is "the moment of silence you gave us was not big or grand enough". Maybe it isn't but I still don't buy the original writers argument that they caved to Arab pressure.

Squishy, you're a smart guy, but I don't see how anyone can argue that the IOC did not at least adjust it's behavior to Arab pressure. I agree that there would have been a complete Arab boycott of the Olympics, but there can be absolutely no doubt that the Arab countries would have made some sort of scene. The Arabs refuse to even recognize the Black September massacre for what it is. You better believe they would have been apoplectic if they were actually confronted with it at the Olympics.

Edited by Daniel, 31 July 2012 - 10:43 AM.

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I collect spores, molds and fungus.Hello fellow American. This you should vote me. I leave power. Good. Thank you, thank you. If you vote me, I'm hot. What? Taxes, they'll be lower... son. The Democratic vote is the right thing to do Philadelphia, so do.How do you spot risk? How do you avoid risk? And what makes it so risky?

The second article you posted just proves our point. If the IOC has no problem honoring every other trgedy that has occured and even outside the sphere of the Olympics, then why does it have an issue with honoring a tragedy that occured during and at an Olympics?

They are obviously caving into pressure.

I agree, if they have no issue honoring the victims of the london bombings then they shouldn't have an issue with honoring the murdered Israeli athletes. Personally I'm not really sure I have opinion on if they should be doing this stuff at all, it doesnt bother me that they do and it only tweaks me very lightly that they don't.

What I am saying is, I don't buy the "Arab boycott pressure" argument, based on my previous statement. So then "why"? Like I said, I think it has more to do with the IOC's miserable handling of security, botched rescue raid and the utter failure to properly address the issue at the time. They can honor the London bombing victims because the IOC had no part in that, if they bring the Israeli raid into the spotlight they have cast a dark cloud over themselves. To be clear, I don't think that's right, I just think it's the reason.

Squishy, you're a smart guy, but I don't see how anyone can argue that the IOC did not at least adjust it's behavior to Arab pressure. I agree that there would have been a complete Arab boycott of the Olympics, but there can be absolutely no doubt that the Arab countries would have made some sort of scene. The Arabs refuse to even recognize the Black September massacre for what it is. You better believe they would have been apoplectic if they were actually confronted with it at the Olympics.

I'm sure some of the Arab community has an opinion that we would strongly disagree with. They may have even mentioned it to the IOC which may have taken it under consideration (there's not proof of this). So we are left to speculate, and again I don't think their decision was based on any potential boycott or even Arab pressure; I think there is enough blood on the IOC's hands that they don't want to shame themselves at the world spotlight moment they only get every two years.

I remember Iran making some noise about the London 2012 logo, saying that it concealed the word "ZION" and thus promoted racism, etc. If I remember correctly, they threatened to boycott if the logo was not changed, and Olympic officials called their bluff, left the logo alone, and lo and behold, the Iranian team went to London anyway.

I remember Iran making some noise about the London 2012 logo, saying that it concealed the word "ZION" and thus promoted racism, etc. If I remember correctly, they threatened to boycott if the logo was not changed, and Olympic officials called their bluff, left the logo alone, and lo and behold, the Iranian team went to London anyway.

At least JL said "Arabs" instead of Muslims, which is slightly less of a generalization. Could you be bothered to do the same? The most populated Muslim country in the world is no where near the middle east and is probably pretty tired of being lumped together with them.

What I am saying is, I don't buy the "Arab boycott pressure" argument, based on my previous statement. So then "why"? Like I said, I think it has more to do with the IOC's miserable handling of security, botched rescue raid and the utter failure to properly address the issue at the time. They can honor the London bombing victims because the IOC had no part in that, if they bring the Israeli raid into the spotlight they have cast a dark cloud over themselves. To be clear, I don't think that's right, I just think it's the reason.

This. Lately, the IOC and FIFA have been all about making themselves look good, keeping politics, and especially their own fvck ups out of the public eye. Athletes can maybe get away with making a point, but Beijing proved once and for all the IOC is about the bottom line, not ethics. It's not an Arab conspiracy, just money talking, because they'll make more if we pretend the Olympics are always happy and fun.

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Sumus Legio
You don't turn this around in a couple shifts. Its going to take a little time, but I know the guys will come back. Because I can see it. -- Jacques Lemaire

At least JL said "Arabs" instead of Muslims, which is slightly less of a generalization. Could you be bothered to do the same? The most populated Muslim country in the world is no where near the middle east and is probably pretty tired of being lumped together with them.